My GF has a May 13 Roadster JCW in Kite Blue with all toys inc Nav, Leather etc. It's covered 4500 miles, but due to getting married, we've looked at getting rid, and I'd get her an Audi from work for half the monthly price

I think the GFV after 3 yrs is something like £14500, but after ringing lots of dealers the lowest we got offered was £14k, most were around the £16k mark, and the highest was £19k

Now I'm fully aware of depreciation, but for a £30k car to drop in 6 months to its estimated value at 3yrs is terrible!!

We'll try again in the summer, as it should be abit more desirable, so until then I'll just keep enjoying the pops on the odd occasion I drive it!

Now I'm fully aware of depreciation, but for a £30k car to drop in 6 months to its estimated value at 3yrs is terrible!!

You're rather comparing apples and oranges there.

The price a car is worth to a dealer in a straight cash sale, with them having to give you the cash, is not at all the same as its trade-in price, which is what GFV really is - sure you can just end the contract but they are expecting to have a chance of selling you a new car at the same time.

Mini may say that they don't do discounts on new cars, but there is a lot of money built into the new price to increase the trade-in price they offer. That £30K car was only ever really a £25K car, even if the finance was for £30K.

The £14K to £19K range just illustrates how much some dealers don't want to do a deal that involves them paying out cash. How many dealers just flat refused to give you a price?

Given that there are quite a few around the same age on cherished for around £22,000 I could see a dealer offering £20k ish on a trade in or around £17k as a cash purchase.
On top of that, its the wrong time of the year for dealers trying to sell convertibles, you will probably get a better price around April.